Under Fisher, 'Noles doing it the right way

When Bobby Bowden coached at Florida State, his offseason appearances before Seminole booster clubs around the state consisted of glad-handing and golf, and not necessarily in that order.

Jimbo Fisher is not Bowden, neither in disposition nor length off the tee. Fisher doesn't play, which mattered not to the couple of hundred Seminole boosters who turned out Monday night at Laurel Oak Country Club to hear the 'Noles head football coach expound on the job he's done at Florida State.

Fisher's words weren't brash, of course, but it's hard to discuss the FSU football program these days without accentuating the positive.

Feel free to find any negative.

For the first time since 2005, the 2012 'Noles claimed the ACC title. They won 10 games for the first time since 2003, won their first BCS bowl since the 2000 Sugar, and finished in the top 10 in both major polls for the first time since 2000.

A lot of “first times'' and “sinces.'' To Fisher, both are symbols of progress.

“I hope so,'' he said. “I think we're definitely headed in the right direction. The last thing we have to do is win a national championship and that will come. If we consistently get good players, win 12-13 games a year, we're going to win our championship and we just have to do it the right way.''

The right way is another way of saying the Fisher Way. If something is happening inside the 'Nole football family of which Fisher is unaware, he will become aware. Rapidly.

“At the end of Bobby's career we got a little bit sloppy,'' said Sarasota attorney and FSU graduate Derek Byrd. “I think college football has gone more to a business, and I think Jimbo carries on that Nick Saban business philosophy where he's almost like a CEO of a company that everything from top to bottom he runs.

“Some people think he's like a control freak, a little bit OCD, but when you run a program the size that we have and a budget that we have with expectations that we have, you have to have that.''

Said Fisher, “I'm always going to be there to know.''

The offseason brought more reasons for Fisher to smile. He bagged another promising recruiting class, redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston impressed with his poise and maturity, and 11 'Noles got drafted into the NFL, more than any other school and the most in FSU history.

“Now the players say, ‘you know something, we got the most guys drafted,' '' Fisher said. “ ‘We are as good as anybody out there.' I think it's just another step, another sign that we can get up and play with anyone in the country.

“And it's because of the character of the kids we're getting. Not just the athleticism.''

Victories aside, perhaps what excites Fisher the most is the graduation rate of his players during his three years at the school — 84, 92 and 87 percent.

It's an intoxicating formula for recruits and their parents. Attend a school where winning is expected, grades are important, and a future in the NFL is possible.

The 'Nole program under Fisher.

“Those are the things you want,'' he said. “We're doing the things most mamas and daddies are happy about.''